The Keepers meet the Lion of Oz
The The Keepers meet the Lion of Oz is the fifth episode of the first season of the Chronicles of the Keepers. Plot After battling a terrible storm, the Keepers landed in the land of Oz. There, they meet a former circus lion. Together, they come across a living oak tree, who was being attacked by a pair of flying monkeys. The monkeys owner, the Wicked Witch of the East confronts Lion and the Keepers telling them she has Lions friend Oscar and Julians father prisoner. She says she'll release them if they bring her the Flower of Oz, which prevents her from total conquest. Setting out, the Keepers (plus Lion) come across two fairies, whose friend Starburst is trapped in a chest at the bottom of a deep pond. Lion dives in, despite his aversion to water, to save her when the Witch's henchman Gloom, a living mist of misery, arrives and tries to tempt Lion into forgetting Starburst, but Lion ignores him and saves the little fairy. The fairies gratefully point everyone in the right direction, telling them to go to a certain castle. As they nearly arrive, they come across a springy teddy bear named Silly Oz-bul, who says he needs to cross the river to get a drink at the castle. Sean points out he can get a drink from the river, which Silly does. He follows everyone to the castle where they are confronted by a toy soldier named Captain Fitzgerald, who thinks they're enemies. but the misunderstanding is cleared when a young girl named Wimzik and her toy ballerina Caroline come along. Lion and the others explain their mission and they decide to come along with them. Meanwhile, Gloom reports to the Witch that Lion and a group of stray travelers interfered with his business, so the Witch confronts everyone again, and zaps Fitzgerald and Jasmine to her dungeon, threatening that for each day Lion and his friends don't find her the Flower of Oz, she'll hurt more of their friends. At first, Julian is distraught that he didn't do anything to stop the witch for taking Jasmine. Coldly, he states that he's going to let the witch take more of his friends. Undeterred, the friends keep going, until they come to a waterfall. They see a silver bridge to a floating island and Silly leaps out of the frying pan and into the fire when he tries to cross the bridge, but it turns out to be an illusion, and nearly falls over the cliff. Luckily Lion saves him. They then hear a voice from the bottom of the cliff telling them to go back, but when Lion announces they're looking for the Flower of Oz, they are invited down by the voice. They come to the town of the Mini-Munchkins, who built the Silver Bridge before it was destroyed by the Wicked Witch of the East and she cursed them by making them smaller so they couldn't rebuild it. The bridge the group saw earlier was just an illusion caused by the Mini-Munchkins' sadness. But Wimzik inspires them to believe in themselves and not to give up, somehow breaking the Witch's spell over them, returning them to their real sizes and restoring the bridge. Inside the dungeon, Jasmine and Fitzgerald learn from the guard that the Witch never really kidnapped Oscar or Julian's father, and had merely tricked Lion and his friends into thinking so, and they now realize that they must escape and warn their friends. The group has crossed the bridge and as they go, Caroline's battery runs out, but Wimzik merely says she needs some sunlight to recharge it. But then the Witch returns, casting Caroline's unconscious body into a whirlpool. Lion dives in to save her but the current's too strong. Wimzik dives in and help them to shore, whereupon Lion says somehow Wimzik's touch gave him strength and Caroline is fully charged from Wimzik's touch as well. The Witch leaves, promising that Silly was next, though Julian scares them away. Back in the dungeon, Fitzgerald and Jasmine escape and spy on the Witch while the rest of the group comes across a strange cottage, where they are then confronted by the Seamstress, an elderly enchantress with powers over thread, hems, and patchworks, her wand is a large sewing needle. She turns Silly and Caroline into quilt patches but then her wand is knocked from her hand by Lion and her living Pin Cushion nails her sleeve to the wall. Realizing the Seamstress is under another of the Witch's spells, Wimzik manages to calmly talk the Seamstress into remembering how to laugh and smile, breaking the spell and revealing the Seamstress to be a nice old lady, and she turns Silly and Caroline back to their real selves. She then gives them a petal she says came from the Flower of Oz. Lion gets a whiff and tracks it to a large garden that's frozen in ice. When Wimzik touches the flower, the garden is instantly thawed and Lion and Sean realizes that they've had the Flower of Oz all along: Wimzik! And the flower she unfroze is really her throne. The Witch attacks, bringing Gloom with her, as well as Fitzgerald and Jasmine as they had stowed along, and reveals the Witch doesn't have Oscar or Julian's father. Lion demands an explanation and the Witch reveals a rumor that Oscar's balloon carried him to the distant Emerald City and doesn't know or care where Julian's father is. The Witch then tries to destroy Wimzik, but with the combined efforts of everyone, she is thwarted and Wimzik seats herself on her throne, restoring her mystical powers as the Flower of Oz. The Witch then sends Gloom after Wimzik. He tries to absorb her, but she is too powerful and he is destroyed. Enraged, the Witch steals Lion's Badge of Courage and sends it to an unknown place. Wizmik orders the Witch to leave, and the Witch swears vengeance before vanishing (though she would never get a chance at vengeance because sometime after, she was killed when a Kansas farm house fell out of the sky and crash landed right on top of her.) Lion is distraught to have lost his badge, now thinking himself no more than a Cowardly Lion. Wimzik and the others explain his courage and everything he's done weren't because of a badge but Lion's brave and noble heart. Despite this, Lion sadly bids his friends goodbye as he must go find his badge and Oscar, but promises to come back someday. Soon, an unseen figure approaches the flying monkeys, offering them a place among his forces. Major Events *The Keepers meet Lion. *First and last appearance of the Wicked Witch of the East. *The Flying Monkeys are recruited into the Dark Legion. Category:Episodes Category:Season 1